High Street to close for realignment

ONE of the biggest infrastructure projects in the revitalisation of Wodonga’s city centre will get start next week — but motorists should be prepared.

Contractors will be on site at High Street from Monday as they start work on the $4.3 million Elgin Boulevard realignment.

The street will be closed northwards from the existing Elgin Boulevard intersection to Bond Street for three months while a new intersection is built.

Barriers will be erected by the middle of the week but pedestrian access will be retained.

Wodonga Council chose to partially close the street instead of completing the work in two halves; a move the council’s director of planning and infrastructure, Leon Schultz, said would have meant “double the time and double the pain”.

It’s also a course of action which suits the contractors, local company Excell Gray Bruni.

“The council has done a fairly good job from that point of view, they’ve come up with a solution that coincidentally suits us,” co-owner Geoff Hayes said.

“Although it’s a big job, it’s not for us as we’re not doing it all at once,” Mr Hayes said.

“From our perspective it’s a series of smaller jobs.”

Excell Gray Bruni is celebrating its 10th year in Wodonga and has worked on several high-profile projects in the region, most recently the new intersection at Havelock and Lawrence streets.

“We’re obviously pleased to be a part of it (the city centre revitalisation),” Mr Hayes said.

“The profile is good and we hope we deliver what’s expected.”

Mr Hayes said the Elgin Boulevard project would employ about 10 full-time staff.

The remaining realignment works will be broken up into smaller parts under “half-construction” to allow traffic on one side of the road, with all work due to be finished in about seven months.

Mr Schultz said the council had provided maps of alternate routes and parking arrangements on its website.